Preparing for Compass development

Specify a path variable for the folder where the Ruby executable file and the gem.bat file are stored.
This lets you launch Ruby and Gem Manager from any folder and ensures that Ruby is successfully launched during transpilation.

The installation is performed in the command line mode. To start the built-in Terminal,
hover your mouse pointer over in the lower left corner of the IDE,
then choose Terminal from the menu (see Working with Embedded Local Terminal for details).

Type the following command at the command line prompt:

gem install compass

The tool is installed to the folder where Ruby executable file and the gem.bat file are stored.

Setting up a Compass project

You can have a project set up according to the Compass requirements in two ways: create a new Compass project or create an empty project and introduce a Compass-specific structure in it.
In either case, a project is set up through command line commands.
Of course, you can set up a Compass project externally and then open it in PhpStorm.

During project set-up, a conf.rb configuration file is generated. You will need to specify the location of this file when integrating Compass with PhpStorm.

To set up the Compass-specific structure in an existing project:

Open the desired project in PhpStorm.

Open the built-in Terminal by hovering your mouse pointer over in the lower left corner of PhpStorm
and choosing Terminal from the menu.

At the command line prompt, type:

compass init

To create a Compass project from scratch:

Open the desired project in PhpStorm.

Open the built-in Terminal by hovering your mouse pointer over in the lower left corner of PhpStorm
and choosing Terminal from the menu.

Switch to the folder that will be the parent for the new project folder. Type the following command:

cd <parent folder name>

At the command line prompt, type:

compass create <the name of the project to be created>

Integrating Compass with PhpStorm

To develop a Compass-specific project in PhpStorm, you need to specify the Compass executable file compass and the project configuration file config.rb.
You can do it either through the Compass Support page of the Settings
dialog box or on the fly using an intention action
that opens the Compass Support dialog box.

Open the Compass page or dialog box by doing one of the following:

Open the Settings / Preferences Dialog by pressing Ctrl+Alt+S or by choosing File | Settings for Windows and Linux or
PhpStorm | Preferences for OS X,
and
click Compass under Languages & Frameworks.

In a .sass or .scss file, type the following import statement:

@import 'compass'

Click the red bulb icon or press Alt+Enter. Then choose Configure Compass from the suggestion list.

In the Compass executable file text box,
specify the location of the compass executable file under the Ruby installation. Type the path manually, for example,
C:\Ruby200-x64\bin\compass, or choose it from the drop-down list, or click the Browse button
and choose the location of the compass file in the dialog box that opens.

In the Config path field,
specify the location of the project Compass configuration file config.rb. Type the path manually, for example,
C:\my_projects\\compass_project\config.rb, or choose it from the drop-down list, or click the Browse button
and choose the location of the compass file int he dialog box that opens.

Creating a Compass Sass or a Compass SCSS transpiler

Sass and SCSS are not processed by browsers that work with CSS code.
Therefore to be executed, Sass or SCSS code has to be translated into CSS. This operation is referred to as transpilation
and the tools that perform it are called transpilers.

PhpStorm supports integration with a transpiler tool that translates Sass and SCSS code from a Compass project without changing the Compass-specific project structure.

In PhpStorm, transpiler configurations are called File Watchers.
For each supported transpiler, PhpStorm provides a predefined File Watcher template.
Predefined File Watcher templates are available at the PhpStorm level. To run a transpiler against your project files, you need to
create a project-specific File Watcher based on the relevant template, at least, specify the path to the transpiler to use on your machine.

PhpStorm provides a common procedure and user interface for creating File Watchers of all types.
The only difference is in the predefined templates you choose in each case.

Make sure the File Watchers plugin is enabled. The plugin is bundled with PhpStorm and activated by default. If it is not,
enable the plugin. See Enabling and Disabling Plugins for details.

To start creating a File Watcher, open the Settings/Preferences dialog box by choosing
File | Settings for Windows and Linux or PhpStorm | Preferences for OS X
on the main menu, and then click File Watchers under the Tools node.
The File Watchers page that opens, shows the list of File Watchers that are already configured in the project.

Click the Add button or press Alt+Insert
and choose the compass sass or compass scss predefined template from the pop-up list.

In the Program text box, specify the path to the executable file:

compass.bat for Windows

compass for Unix and OS X

Type the path manually or click the Browse button and choose the file location in the dialog box that opens.

In the Arguments text box, type one of the following depending on the operating system used:

Running a Compass Sass or Compass SCSS transpiler

When you open a Sass or SCSS file, PhpStorm checks whether an applicable file watcher is available in the current project. If such file watcher is configured but disabled,
PhpStorm displays a pop-up window that informs you about the configured file watcher and suggests to enable it.

If an applicable file watcher is configured and enabled in the current project, PhpStorm starts it automatically
upon the event specified in the New Watcher dialog.

If the Immediate file synchronization check box is selected, the File Watcher is invoked as soon as any changes are made to the source code.

If the Immediate file synchronization check box is cleared,
the File Watcher is started upon save (File | Save All, Ctrl+S) or when you move focus from PhpStorm
(upon frame deactivation).

PhpStorm creates a separate file with the generated output. The file has the name of the source Sass or SCSS file
and the extension css. The location of the generated files is defined in the Output paths to refresh text box of the New Watcher dialog.
However, in the Project Tree, they are shown under the source file which is now displayed as a node.